What to Pack for your trip to Ecuador?
What to pack really depends on where you are going and your style of travel: budget backpacking, luxury island-cruising, a two-week guided historical tour, or a combination of all three. Before you begin packing, consider which regions of Ecuador you want to visit, as each has its own distinct climate. Every type of travel has its own list of bare essentials from corkscrews to hairdryers and crampons to tampons, so we list some of the obvious and not-so-obvious items for the various regions and activities you may encounter in Ecuador. These lists are meant to be suggestive rather than comprehensive.

General Packing List

Passport

Money belt or neck pouch

Bank card, credit card and / or travelers’ checks

Backpack

Cloths for warm and cool weather as one can encounter both in an afternoon in the Andes or if traveling between regions

Toilet paper and tampons (both can be hard to find outside of Quito and Guayaquil)

Plastic bags for separating dirty and clean clothes and shoes

Notebooks and pens / pencils

Hat

Sunglasses

Camera

Needle and thread

Biodegradable soap (if in backcountry areas)

Leave copies your important documents, such as your passport, as well as travelers check and credit card numbers, with someone who can fax them to you if they are stolen and / or give a copy to a trusted traveling companion. E-mailing numbers to an on-line e-mail account (such as G-mail, Hotmail or Yahoo) is also a good idea since you can access the Internet from almost anywhere.

Ecuador’s electrical current is 110 volts 60 cycles – the same as North America – so adapters for North American equipment are not needed. However, plug converters (from two to three prongs) are sometimes necessary in older buildings.

Regional Packing Lists
Andes
In most parts of the Andes, you can experience all four seasons in one day. Be prepared for cold nights and cold rain, especially if you plan on camping. The following list, combined with the general list above, provides useful guidelines for travel in the mountains:

Light sweater or sweatshirt (nights can get rather cool and you don’t want to miss stargazing on deck)

Extra camera batteries and film / memory card

Underwater camera (recommended!)

Motion sickness pills

Coast

When planning a trip to Ecuador’s Pacific coast, use both the above general list and the Galápagos list for guidelines. All of the Galápagos equipment minus all that may be rented if you plan on doing a lot of hiking or travel by bus. Travelling light is always recommended. You’ll also need insect repellent (at least 30% DEET) and possibly a mosquito net (many hotels provide them). Malaria pills may also be necessary, read about the disease and how to prevent it in the malaria sub-section of our health page.

Oriente
Travel to Ecuador’s Oriente, or eastern Amazon rainforest provinces, requires a lot of planning. Be sure to consider the following:

Rubber boots (a must since hiking boots don’t work well in calf-deep mud – most lodges and arranged tours will provide boots up to size 10 or they can be purchased in most towns for about $5)

Mosquito net (most hotels and tour companies offer nets)

Insect repellent (with DEET)

Malaria pills

Antihistamine tablets and an epi-pen for people with serious allergies to stings

Water purification tablets (iodine is recommended), although hotels and lodges should provide potable water.

Oral rehydration packets

Binoculars (invaluable in the rainforest. It’s worth spending a bit of extra money to get a good pair: 8 x 40 are excellent for poor light conditions under the forest canopy)

Poncho that fits over you and your pack (The cheap plastic knee-length type coats are better than Gore-Tex, which will soak right through in a real rainforest deluge. Hotels and lodges should provide these too.)

All clothes (undergarments included) should be loose fitting to help keep you cool. To prevent chigger bites, wear long sleeves and pants, tuck your shirt into your pants and your pants into your socks or boots.

Sport Specific Packing Lists
River Rafting

Swim suit

Tennis shoes or Teva-like sandals with secure ankle straps

Tee-shirt (quick drying material is best)

Easy-dry shorts or running tights

Safety strap if wearing glasses

Waterproof camera (recommended)

Dry clothes for after the trip.

Mountain Climbing

Below are supplies you will need on a two day non-technical climb up mountains such as Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. For the more technical climbs, more specialized equipment is needed. For nearly all tours, the items listed under Equipment are provided by the tour company. All equipment may be rented in Quito as well. Helmets are the exception to both of these statements, they are rarely provided and are also very difficult to rent.
Equipment